Picture This: Caring for the Earth
Deadline: August 31, 2009

Picture This: Caring for the Earth is a photo contest seeking out single photos and photo essays profiling people in Africa working to reduce the effects of climate change in their countries, cities and communities.

The contest is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with Olympus Corporation and the Agence France-Presse (AFP) Foundation.

Prizes include the latest in Olympus equipment; a trip to New York City for the first prize winners; and a working fellowship with an AFP bureau in Africa for one lucky first-prize winner in the professional category.

The deadline is August 31st.  You must have lived in an African country for at least 12 months before that date to be eligible to enter.

It has been a busy season for Blue Earth project photographer Greg Constantine traveling to continue work on his project Nowhere People, documenting the daily lives of persons coping with statelessness across the globe.  Rather than trying to summarize the highlights myself, I’ll let Greg speak in his own words:

2009 has been a very productive year for the project and all I can do is try to keep up the momentum.  In early January I returned to Bangladesh to follow up on my work on the stateless Rohingya.  And in April, with the support of Oxford Brookes University in the UK, I traveled to Sri Lanka to photograph the struggles of Hill Tamils working on the tea plantations in the central hills, many of whom continue to be stateless.

In June, POWER Magazine in Hong Kong ran a great photo essay and story of my work on the stateless Nubian community in Kenya.

Lastly, a photo essay from my work on the stateless Dalit in the Terai of southern Nepal, was just named the winner of the 2008 Harry Chapin Media Award (HCMA) for photojournalism (formerly called the World Hunger Media Award).  The essay, “Stranded In the Middle Ground” was published in the Himal Southasian Magazine in May of 2008.  Earlier this year, this essay also received an Honorable Mention: Best Published Picture Story (small markets) category in the 2009 NPPA Best of Photojournalism.  …

This summer and fall will be extremely busy and very productive for this project.  I’ll certainly keep you all posted with any new publications and developments.

One other item I would also note is that last month Greg was honored by the Asia Society with the Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia.  I’m pleased to extend our congratulations!

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Aperture
Deadline: July, 16 2009

The purpose of the Aperture Portfolio Prize is to identify trends in contemporary photography and specific artists whom we can help by bringing them to a wider audience. In choosing the first-prize winner and runners-up, we are looking for work that is fresh and that hasn’t been widely seen in major publications or exhibition venues.

First prize is $2,500. The first-prize winner and runners-up are featured in Aperture’s website for approximately one year. Winners are also announced in the foundation’s e-newsletter, which reaches thousands of subscribers in the photography community.

Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs
Deadline: August 11, 2009

To assist individual artists in this economic climate, applications for 2010 CityArtists Projects are opening early.  Seattle-based artists working in visual, literary or film/media arts may apply this summer for funding of up to $10,000 to support projects starting in January 2010.  CityArtists Projects is an annual funding program that provides support to individual Seattle artists to conceive, develop and present new, in-progress or remounted works taken to the next stage. Projects must include a public presentation in Seattle.

Eligibility: Seattle-based individual artists proposing projects in the visual, literary and film/media arts. Traditional ethnic or multidisciplinary projects must include at least one of the disciplines listed above.

The Essence Of Water PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris winners are being exhibited at the Farmani Gallery in Brooklyn, New York from June 18-27th, 2009.  Regular readers of our blog may recall that Blue Earth project photographer John Trotter was honored this spring by being selected for this very competitive exhibit highlighting “work that showcases the importance and impact of water in our world.”

If you are in town, the gallery is hosting an opening reception from 6-8 p.m. today.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

National Association of Latino Arts and Culture
Deadline: July 13, 2009

Call for applications from Latino Artists and Arts Organizations. The NALAC Fund for the Arts is a field-advised grant program designed to help Latinos develop their creative talents and make lasting contributions to our communities and society as a whole. Launched in 2005 by the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture with major support from the Ford Foundation, the NALAC Fund for the Arts provides financial resources to strengthen Latino arts organizations and to support Latino artists in the creation of their work.

En Foco
Deadline: July 31, 2009

En Foco’s New Works Photography Awards Fellowship is an annual program selecting three or more U.S. photographers of Latino, African and Asian heritage, and Native Peoples of the Americas and the Pacific. Three photographers will be selected from an open and national call for entries, to receive a $1,000 honorarium, photo-related supplies, technical assistance, a photographer’s page on enfoco.org, an article in Nueva Luz, an En Foco Membership and a culminating group exhibition in New York City in the Spring-Summer of 2010.

Juror: Anne Wilkes Tucker, Curator, Museum of Fine Arts / Houston

It was a lost cause, we went over, we participated in things we probably shouldn’t have participated in, we made choices we’ll have to live with forever and then we get on a plane and come back here and nothing is ever said about it…” Zack Choate, Iraq War veteran, Atlanta, Georgia. 
© Jon Orlando

Four pieces from Blue Earth project photographer Jon Orlando’s
Warriors for Peace were accepted into the exhibit Odysseus Project: Finding Home.  This new show at the at the Art @ 12 Farnsworth Street Gallery in Boston highlights work by artists and veteran-artists focusing on issues of war as well as the experience of veterans returning home.  In addition to the opening this Friday, June 12 from 5-7 p.m., the gallery will also host an artist panel discussion on the 18th and a reading on the 25th. The exhibit runs through June 27th, 2009.

If you are interested in learning more about his work, be sure to also check out an interview with Jon currently featured in Exposure Compensation.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Bloomberg is featuring an interview with Blue Earth project photographer Gary Braasch marking the recent launch of the new paperback edition of his book Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World. The interview outlines the message of Gary’s book regarding the advance of global warming and its potentially devastating effects.

Be sure to visit the companion website to Earth Under Fire or World View of Global Warming for more information about his recent work.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

As a service to the community, Blue Earth occasionally posts information about funding and other opportunities for project photographers.  Check back on our blog frequently for regular updates.

Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography
Deadline: September 1, 2009

The Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography (MPS Fund) was created by the New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) to honor the life and work of Michael P. Smith, one of New Orleans’ most legendary and beloved documentary photographers.  The MPS Fund awards one $5000 grant annually to a Gulf Coast photographer whose work combines artistic excellence and a sustained commitment to a long-term cultural documentary project.  Entry fee $25.  All required materials must be received between June 1, 2009 and September 1, 2009.

City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture
Deadline: July 17, 2009

The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture seeks an artist or artist team to create permanent, documentary public artwork(s) such as drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, videos or multi-media artworks, which record the unique nature of City Heights and engender community.

Art Budget: $25,000.   Artists must be authorized to work in the U.S. to apply.

In May, former Blue Earth project photographer Tim Matsui concluded our 2008-2009 lecture series with a presentation at the Henry Art Gallery on his work on human trafficking in Southeast Asia.  For the benefit of those unable to attend that day, we’ve prepared a video of his lecture.  Our lecture series will resume this fall - keep an eye on our blog for details.

The presentation is approximately one hour long, including a Q&A session at the end.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager